Page 3 of Payne's Envy

I gave the parents time as they shared a lingering moment. As Dasha handed the bundle forth, a glimpse into his future hit me.

Grim and Fear walked through a village a few hours away. A baby was beneath a pile of wood. A baby I had to make sure got there. Fear scooped him up, checking the child for injuries. Grim offered care, but Fear had a fierce reaction.

“No,” Fear spoke. “I’m going to be his dad.”

The vision skipped to several hours later.

Molly was in the kitchen when Fear brought the baby home. She turned and froze at the bundle in his arms. She was clearly afraid, backing away, fingers gripping the counter, her face drained of color as he told her where he found the child.

“I’m scared. He’s so tiny. I don’t want to hurt him.” Molly couldn’t stop staring at him. “What’s his name?”

“I don’t know who he was before I found him.” Fear wrapped one arm around her and looked down at the baby. “But we can give him a name.”

“Payne.” She had already decided. “If he will be Fear’s son…” She looked up at him and grinned.

“It suits him, I can tell already,” Fear said.

“Hi, Payne,” she whispered to her son. “I’m going to be your mommy now.”

The vision changed again. The baby had grown a lot.

Molly held him in her arms, laughing and talking to him.

“What kind of demon are you?”

Fear joined her on the couch.

“You’re not the only one I love anymore,” she told Fear. “I love our son so much.”

A single tear fell down my cheek as Dasha putPaynein my arms. To finally have a name for a child in my visions… So, he would be near Grim and his family because he belonged with Fear and Molly.

I looked at Payne’s birth parents and whispered, “Would you like to know the name he will go by in this realm?”

Dasha glimpsed to her husband before nodding.

“Payne.”

“Payne,” she whispered through a smile.

Chapter One

Payne

Days before Joy’s abduction

The sun set across the swamp. Frogs croaked and bugs buzzed. Rubbing my ear, I nearly stumbled off the wooden bridge. The noises irritated me, but nothing annoyed me more than all the moss and dead trees. The pond was vast, but nearly everything had died, likely thanks to the witch residing there.Fucking witches.I didn’t agree with August on much, but witches went overboard. The swamp witch I’d found lived in the human realm, but it seemed she was no different from the spellcasters of the Underworld. If it didn’t make a grown man’s skin crawl, you weren’t in the right place.

The cottage was on the other side of a narrow footbridge. The rotted wood gave way beneath my weight, plunging my boot into the water.I don’t have time for this.The Reaper sisters were in danger, which meantJoywas in danger. Needing to be near her and avoiding her altogether was my life. Not that she knew of the turmoil I had when it came to her.She must think I despise her after all these years...

The name Payne was fitting for me. The last century had been misery, and it seemed I was no closer to ending the pain than when I began that search for answers.

I growled, yanked my foot out, and then strode toward the dilapidated house. Knocking three times, I waited for the woman to answer before I burst through the tiny door. The ceiling was so low I had to hunch my shoulders and back. The wooden table barely went above my knees. It was clear the witch never expected company as tall as me when she made it.

A cauldron hung over a fire. I covered my nose quickly as herbs and spices assaulted my senses, much like the loud chirping that still irritated my nerves inside the witch’s home.

The witch sat on a wooden bench near the concoction she brewed over the fire. She had dark, wrinkled skin, white eyes, and gray hair. Hmm. A witch that welcomed age instead of hid it. Rare. “I see you found me.”

I stepped forward and pulled my cloak back. The witch tilted her head and barely moved her eyes. Although I assumed she was blind, witches didn’t need eyes to see. “You said you can give me answers about what I am,” I stated.

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